1 Samuel 15: The Importance of Obedience

Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide, (2002), 95–96

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest” (Mormon Doctrine, 2d. ed. [1966], 539). As you read 1 Samuel 15, consider what it teaches about the principle of obedience.

There are very few times in scripture that God commanded a people be destroyed. The Amalekites were extremely cruel to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt (see Deuteronomy 25:17–19). They picked out the weak, sick, and elderly that struggled along at the back of the march and killed these stragglers.